Micro-flexure suspension including piezoelectric elements for secondary actuation

ABSTRACT

A micro-flexure is provided for achieving secondary actuation in an actuator of a disk drive. The micro-flexure is a separate element which attaches to a standard flexure. A slider mounts to the micro-flexure. Piezoelectric elements attach to the micro-flexure to provide the motive force for displacing the micro-flexure during secondary actuation. The secondary actuation is thereby achieved by isolating movement at the slider.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Priority is claimed from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/356,927, filed on Feb. 12, 2002, and entitled “MICRO-FLEXURESUSPENSION DESIGN” and further identified as the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to actuators used in disk drives, and moreparticularly, to a micro-flexure suspension which provides secondaryactuation thereby achieving finer head positioning.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Computer disk drives typically incorporate retrieval and storage of databy use of magnetic storage disks and read/write heads which are capableof reading data from and writing data onto the rotating storage disks.Data is stored on each magnetic storage disk in a number of concentrictracks on the disk. The narrower the tracks can be made, the more datawhich can be stored on the storage disk. The read/write heads may alsobe referred to as the read/write transducers which are integrated withina slider which typically places the heads at a predetermined heightabove the corresponding storage disk. One or more read/write heads maybe integrated within a single slider. A suspension assembly supports theslider over the disk and maintains the slider over the desired datatrack center line during a read or write operation. A cushion of air isgenerated between the slider and the rotating disk, the cushion oftenreferred to as an air bearing. The suspension assembly is part of theactuator which is the component in the disk drive for positioning theread/write heads. The actuator is typically controlled by a voice coilmotor which acts as a primary actuator for positioning of the sliderover the desired track. Because of the trend in recent years to providegreater storage capacity on a storage disk, track widths have becomeincreasingly narrower which makes it more difficult for the read/writeheads to accurately read and write information to and from the magneticdisks. The actuator has limited ability to accurately position a slideracross the data tracks. Accordingly, a need has arisen over the yearsfor the ability to more accurately position the read/write heads ontracks of decreasing width. As track density increases, the speed orservo bandwidth with which an actuator can respond must also increase toallow effective track following.

One approach to achieving finer positioning of the actuator is to employsecondary actuation that operates together with primary actuationprovided by the voice coil motor. Secondary actuation can be provided inthe form of an additional actuator control element which provides forfiner control of the flexure and/or load beam. These additional controlelements have often been termed “micro” or “milli” actuators.

It is known to utilize piezoelectric materials to achieve secondaryactuation in a milli-actuator. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,600 discloses aprior art milli-actuator which may utilize two piezoelectric actuatorsmounted between the base plate of an actuator arm and load beam of anactuator. A narrowed section may be provided between the base plate andload beam, or the base plate and load beam may be physically separated.The piezoelectric elements act in a “push-pull” manner to move the loadbeam relative to the base plate. The distal end of the load beam carriesthe flexure and slider. Secondary actuation is therefore achieved bymovement of the load beam which in turn moves the flexure and slider.This reference also discloses a pair of bimorph-actuators which aredeflectable together in a common direction and which interconnect aninboard portion and an outboard portion of an actuator arm. Upondeflection of the bimorph-actuators in the same direction, the outboardportion of the actuator arm is translated along a path that istransverse to the longitudinal axis of the inboard portion. Thistransverse motion results in secondary actuation and further allows theread/write head to be kept substantially within a plane parallel to thesurface of the data storage disk thereby preventing potential damagecaused by possible contact between the slider and the disk surface.

Another reference disclosing a means of secondary actuation is theinvention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,947. This reference teaches amilli-actuator having an integrated milli-actuator/electronics modulewhich is positioned between the suspension of an actuator arm and theslider. The milli-actuator is an electrostatic rotary device in which arotor structure is controllably rotated by the electronics module toprovide the secondary actuation. Integration of the milli-actuatorelectronics with the milli-actuator reduces parasitic loading andinterference problems with magnetic transducer signals.

Yet another example of a reference disclosing secondary actuation is theU.S. Pat. No. 5,657,188. In this reference, a micro-actuator is locatedon the load beam which controls movement of the flexure and theread/write heads attached to the flexure thereby achieving greaterpositional control of the read/write head on a desired disk track. Themicro-actuator includes a moving pole member mounted to the flexure, astationary pole member mounted to a rigid region on the load beamadjacent to the moving pole, and coils positioned around the stationarypole member.

While the above inventions may be adequate for their intended purposes,one particular drawback to previous micro/milli-actuator designs is thatthe secondary actuator mechanism actuates not only the slider, but alsothe load beam and/or the flexure. With the micro-flexure suspension ofthe present invention, only the slider is moved. The isolation ofmovement at the slider lowers the moving mass of secondary actuation,reduces windage excitation, and improves overall dynamic performance ofthe actuator. Windage excitation refers to some increase in loss ofcontrol over the read/write heads due to an increase in uncontrolledmovement of the suspension due to airflow forces acting upon thesuspension during operation. Incorporating a micro-actuator across theload beam and/or flexure may reduce the stiffness of the load beam andflexure and may contribute to uncontrolled suspension movement.Accordingly, any gain in fine positioning of the actuator by use of amicro-actuator may be lost by inability to minimize windage excitation.

Therefore, it can be seen that there is a need to provide secondaryactuation, but to limit the structure which is secondarily actuated bytargeting the structure in the suspension in closest proximity to theread/write heads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a micro-flexure suspension isprovided for secondary actuation. The micro-flexure suspension overcomesthe shortcomings of the prior art mentioned above regarding secondaryactuation of the load beam and flexure which can be negatively impactedby windage excitation. More specifically, the present invention providesa micro-flexure suspension which only actuates the slider and not theflexure or load beam.

Therefore, one advantage of the present invention is that the mass andsize of the elements which are moved in secondary actuation is reduced,thereby improving dynamics and reducing windage excitation.

Another advantage of the present invention is that since themicro-flexure suspension is a separate element which is attacheddirectly to a flexure of standard design, there is no requirement toalter many of the basic design or manufacturing processes for making theflexure or load beam. Accordingly, the micro-flexure suspension of thepresent invention can be incorporated within current actuator designsminimizing new efforts in design and manufacturing.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is that although precisesecondary actuation control is provided, this is not achieved with anysacrifice in the flight characteristics of the slider and flexurebecause the micro-actuator has a reinforced construction to inhibitundesirable vertical/perpendicular movement of the flexure with respectto the micro-flexure thereby maintaining gimballing stiffness of theflexure.

The present invention provides a micro-flexure which attaches directlyto a standard flexure, and the slider directly attaches to themicro-flexure. Coarse positioning of the actuator is achieved in theconventional manner as by a voice coil motor. Secondary actuation isachieved by movement of the slider on the micro-flexure by use ofpiezoelectric elements which are capable of imparting movement on themicro-flexure in relatively small but precise displacements. Themicro-flexure is designed such that movement imparted to the slider isachieved in a plane parallel to the plane of the magnetic storage disksurface, and out of plane movements are minimized by a pair ofreinforcing legs which provide the stiffness to resist such out of planemovements.

More specifically, the micro-flexure includes a base section and atongue section extending from the base section, both sections beingoffset from the standard flexure to prevent contact between the sectionsand the standard flexure. The base and tongue sections may becollectively referred to as a slider carrying section because the baseand tongue sections are integrally formed, and the slider is attached toand supported by both the base and tongue sections. A transverse supportintegral with the micro-flexure attaches the micro-flexure element tothe standard flexure. The pair of reinforcing legs are positioned onopposite lateral sides of the micro-flexure and extend in a directionsubstantially parallel to one another along a longitudinal axis of theactuator. The reinforcing legs provide not only stiffening support tothe micro-flexure, but also facilitate controllable transverse movementof the micro-flexure during secondary actuation. A piezoelectric elementis attached to each of the reinforcing legs. A cut-out or gap is formedin the micro-flexure adjacent the reinforcing legs and the transversesupport, thereby allowing the tongue section to hang unsupported exceptfor a connected end of the tongue section which transitions into thebase section. Preferably, this cut out is u-shaped, and the peripheraledges of the tongue are thereby bounded by the cut out or gap. Theslider is attached to the tongue and base sections. Application of adesired voltage to the piezoelectric elements results in elasticdeformation of the reinforcing legs thereby laterally shifting ordeflecting the base and tongue sections of the micro-flexure, therebyalso shifting the attached slider. Movement of the slider duringsecondary actuation is along a path which is lateral or transverse tothe longitudinal axis of the actuator arm. This transverse motion allowsthe read/write head to be precisely positioned while also maintainingthe slider within a plane parallel to the surface of the storage diskthereby minimizing out of plane motion. During secondary actuation, thegap surrounding the tongue section allows movement of the slider withoutany interfering contact with the standard flexure, load beam, or anyother portions of the micro-flexure.

In one aspect of the present invention, it can be considered an improvedsuspension assembly including the load beam, standard flexure and themicro-flexure mounted to the standard flexure. In another aspect of theinvention, it may further include the slider in combination with thesuspension assembly. In yet another aspect of the present invention, itcan be considered as only including the micro-flexure, and not incombination with the standard flexure, load beam or slider.

Also according to the present invention, a method is provided forsecondary actuation of an actuator of a disk drive. The methodcontemplates provision of an actuator, attaching a micro-flexure to thestandard flexure of the actuator, providing at least one piezoelectricelement attached to the micro-flexure, and then applying a desiredvoltage to the piezoelectric element to place a bending moment upon themicro-flexure thereby shifting or translating the micro-flexure toachieve desired secondary actuation.

Structurally, the micro-flexure can also be described in terms of astationary portion which attaches to the standard flexure, and a movableportion which is offset from the standard flexure and is spaced from thestationary portion. The stationary portion includes the transversesupport, and the movable portion includes the area of the reinforcinglegs in contact with the piezoelectric elements, as well as the tongueand base sections. The movable portion is spaced from the stationaryportion by the gap which surrounds the peripheral edge of the tonguesection. The offset arrangement between the movable portion and standardflexure, and the gap surrounding the peripheral edge of the tonguesection thereby provide clearance for secondary actuation.

Additional advantages and features of the present invention will becomeapparent by review of the following written description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view of a standard computer disk driveincluding an actuator for positioning of a slider on a magnetic storagedisk;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the micro-flexure of the presentinvention shown as mounted to a standard flexure;

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the micro-flexure of the presentinvention but further illustrating a slider mounted to themicro-flexure;

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged perspective view of the micro-flexurefurther illustrating details of the invention to include the clearanceor spacing between the micro-flexure and the standard flexure; and

FIG. 5 is another perspective view of the micro-flexure illustrating howthe micro-flexure imparts transverse or lateral displacement to theslider thereby achieving secondary actuation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a standard disk drive assembly 10 with thetop cover removed. FIG. 1 is representative of any number of common diskdrives. The disk drive assembly 10 as illustrated includes at least onemagnetic storage disk 12 typically having magnetic media on both upperand lower surfaces thereof. The disk 12 along with other components ofthe disk drive are contained within the housing 14. The disk 12 ismounted over a hub 16 which is driven by a motor (not shown) enablingthe disk to rotate at high revolutions per minute during operation. Anactuator assembly 18 is shown rotatably mounted to an actuator pivot 24.The actuator assembly extends along a longitudinal axis z—z. A load beam22 connects to an actuator arm 23. A flexure 21 attaches to the loadbeam 22. In solid lines, the actuator assembly 18 is shown parked overthe landing zone. The landing zone of the disk is allocated for takeoffand landing of the read/write heads during spin-up and spin-down of thedisk. The actuator assembly 18 is rotated to a desired disk track by avoice coil motor shown as voice coil 26. Accordingly, the actuatorassembly 18 moves in an arcuate path 25 across the disk and ispositioned over the desired tracks during operation. Each of the disktracks on the disk 12 are formed concentrically so that the arcuatemovement of the actuator assembly results in the head movingsubstantially laterally or transversely with respect to the direction inwhich the tracks extend. The voice coil 26 is immersed in a magneticfield generated by magnet 28. An actuator control circuit (not shown)causes current flow in the voice coil motor 26 and ultimately controlsthe positioning of the actuator assembly by varying current through thevoice coil. The dotted position of the actuator assembly 18 shows howthe actuator may travel along path 25 by rotating about the actuatorpivot point 24 in response to the voice coil motor 26. A flex cable 36attaches to the actuator assembly which transfers electronic signals toand from a slider mounted to the flexure 21. The slider has one or moreread/write heads.

Although a particular design is shown for the actuator assembly, itshall be understood that the micro-flexure of the present invention isnot specifically limited by this design, and the micro-flexure is usablewith many other designs.

FIG. 2 illustrates the micro-flexure 40 of the present inventionattached to a standard flexure 21. FIG. 2 illustrates the side or faceof the suspension 40 which normally faces the disk 12 during operation.The micro-flexure 40 includes a base section 42, and a tongue section 44which extends from the base section 42 in a proximal direction andco-planar with the base section 42. Since the base section 42 and tonguesection 44 are integrally formed on the same co-planar portion of themicro-flexure, they also may be collectively referred to as the slidercarrying section. A u-shaped cutout defining a gap 46 is provided toallow separation between the peripheral edge 49 of the tongue section49, the adjacent transverse support 47, and the adjacent edges of thepair of reinforcing legs 48. One reinforcing leg and piezoelectricelement are broken away to illustrate the u-shaped gap 46. Thereinforcing legs 48 each have a distal end 52 which terminates at ornear a distal end 43 of the micro-flexure, and a proximal end 54 whichterminates at or near a proximal end 45 of the micro-flexure. Alsoreferring to FIG. 4, an offset or clearance is provided to separate thebase section 42 and tongue section 44 from the flexure and the loadbeam, this clearance being denoted by clearance c. This clearance isformed by a step or extension 51 on each of the reinforcing legs 48.Steps 51 also separate sections 42 and 44 from the transverse support 47that is attached to the standard flexure 21. For mechanical attachmentof the micro-flexure to the standard flexure, this may be achieved by aweld or an adhesive joint at the transverse support 47. Electrically,the micro-flexure may be attached using ultrasonic wire-bonding, solder,conductive epoxy, or gold-ball bonding. The slider may be attached tothe micro-flexure using known gold-ball bonding techniques.

The pair of piezoelectric elements 50 are attached along the exteriorsurfaces of reinforcing legs 48, and extend along a majority of thelength of legs 48. Piezoelectric elements 50 may be attached to theexterior surfaces of legs 48 as by conductive adhesive, or other knowntechniques. Voltage is applied to the piezoelectric elements 50 throughelectrical bonding pads 64 formed on the transverse support 47. Elements50 have one end in contact with the respective pads 64. Additionalelectrical connections are provided for attachment to slider 70, shownas electrical lead bonding pads 60 which are formed on both thetransverse support 47 and base section 42. As shown, two pairs of leadpads 60 are formed on both the transverse support 47 and base section42. A plurality of electrical leads 62 extend along the interiorsurfaces of reinforcing legs 48 and terminate at lead pads 60. Bondingpads 60 and 64 electrically connect to standard electrical leads (notshown) which extends proximally along the flexure to the actuator arm.

Now specifically referring to FIGS. 3–5, the slider 70 is shown attachedto the base section 42 and tongue section 44 of the micro-flexure 40. Aset of axis are provided on FIG. 4 to illustrate the x as well as y andz directions. When a desired voltage is applied to the piezoelectricelements 50, the piezoelectric elements will work in unison together totranslate or shift the slider 70 in the transverse x direction bybending the legs 48 thereby providing fine positioning of the slider 70on the desired track. Accordingly, reinforcing legs 48 that extend inthe z direction will elastically deform or bend in the x direction inresponse to the expanding and shrinking experienced by the piezoelectricelements when the desired voltage is applied.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of how the legs 48 elastically deform tofacilitate the translation of the slider 70 in one direction. Thisdeformation has been greatly exaggerated in this Figure in order tovisualize the manner in which the slider 70 is moved for secondaryactuation. If translation or movement is desired in the direction asshown, then contraction of one of the piezoelectric elements whileexpansion of the other piezoelectric element results in a uniformbending moment being placed on the reinforcing legs, thereby deformingthe legs in the manner as shown. Of course, slider 70 can be displacedin the opposite x direction. By applying a voltage of opposite polarity,the piezoelectric elements can bend the legs 48 in the opposite xdirection. The micro-flexure 40 maintains stiffness in the y directionto prevent inadvertent contact between the flexure 70 and the disktracks because of the orientation of reinforcing legs 48. A much greaterbending moment would have to be applied to the legs 48 in order to causea deformation of the legs in the y direction. The height (extension inthe y direction), length (extension in the z direction), and width(extension in the x direction) of the reinforcing legs 48 may beadjusted as necessary to provide the necessary stiffness in the ydirection, yet still allow the piezoelectric elements to translate theslider 70 in the transverse or lateral x direction. Because of theoffset defined by the clearance c between the standard flexure and themicro-flexure, even some undesirable amount of translation in the ydirection will not result in interfering contact between the standardflexure and the micro-flexure. As shown in FIG. 5, gap 46 surroundingthe peripheral edge 49 of the tongue section 44, also ensures that theslider 17 will not make interfering contact with the interior surfacesof reinforcing legs 48, even after secondary actuation.

The micro-flexure may be constructed of the same type of material as thestandard flexure, such as a standard stainless steel, dielectric,copper, or cover layer suspension material.

The advantages of the present invention are clear. A simple yeteffective micro-flexure is provided for secondary actuation of theactuator without having to substantially modify the structure of astandard flexure, load beam or any other components of an actuator.Accordingly, the micro-flexure may be incorporated within standardactuators without incurring the costs of complete retooling andredesign.

The configuration of the micro-flexure inhibits undesirable translationin a direction which may cause undesirable contact with the storagedisk, yet allows precise translation of the slider in the desiredtransverse or lateral direction. Because of the small size and locationof attachment of the micro-flexure, the adverse effects of windageexcitation are minimized. Furthermore, the flight characteristics of theslider are not substantially affected because the structure of themicro-flexure does not modify the actual structure of the slider nordoes it alter the slider's normal orientation with respect to the airbearing.

The design of the micro-flexure also enhances the shock and loadcarrying capability of the micro-flexure yet still provides a compliantlateral structure for secondary actuation. The reinforced constructionalong the y and z directions provide enhanced structural stability.

In many flexure designs, electrical leads may extend along very thin andunsupported portions of the flexure, or even some leads may extend alongportions of the flexure that are separated from a main portion of theflexure and the leads are only supported by a weld or bond. These leadsare sometimes referred to as “flying” leads. Because the electricalleads of the present invention are formed directly along the reinforcinglegs, there are no “flying” leads thereby further enhancing the abilityof the micro-flexure to withstand shock.

Because the micro-flexure can be manufactured as a separate element fromthe rest of the actuator, the micro-flexure may be tested separately.Therefore, proper functioning of the micro-flexure can be determinedprior to assembly with the more expensive actuator.

The desired secondary actuation can be altered by adjusting either thesize of the piezoelectric elements, and/or adjusting the size of thereinforcing legs which are manipulated during secondary actuation. Thesemodifications can be done by simply enlarging or decreasing the size ofthe piezoelectric elements and reinforcing legs. Of course, the overallsize of the micro-flexure may be adjusted to handle different sizedsliders which are used on the various types of disk drives.

The present invention has been described with respect to a preferredembodiment; however, other changes and modifications can be made withinthe spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A micro-flexure for use in an actuator of a disk drive, saidmicro-flexure comprising: a base section forming a most distallyextending portion of said micro-flexure; a tongue section extendingproximally from said base section and said tongue section having aperipheral edge communicating with a gap formed in said micro-flexure; apair of reinforcing legs formed on opposing lateral sides of saidmicro-flexure and having a height extending away from a common plane inwhich said base section and tongue section lie; a transverse supportinterconnecting adjacent ends of said pair of reinforcing legs; a pairof piezoelectric elements, one element of said pair of piezoelectricelements being mounted on each reinforcing leg of said pair ofreinforcing legs; said tongue section and base section being offset fromsaid transverse support by said gap that extends therebetween; and meansattached to said micro-flexure for providing voltage to said pair ofpiezoelectric elements wherein a desired voltage applied to saidpiezoelectric elements causes deformation of said pair of reinforcinglegs thereby providing movement of said micro-flexure in a transversedirection for secondary actuation.
 2. A micro-flexure, as claimed inclaim 1, wherein: said gap is u-shaped.
 3. A micro-flexure, as claimedin claim 1, wherein: said height of said reinforcing legs extendssubstantially perpendicular to said common plane of said base and tonguesections.
 4. A micro-flexure, as claimed in claim 1, wherein: saidpiezoelectric elements attach to respective exterior surfaces of saidreinforcing legs.
 5. A micro-flexure, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:said reinforcing legs are elastically bent in the transverse directionby a bending moment induced thereon by the pair of piezoelectricelements.
 6. A micro-flexure, as claimed in claim 1, wherein: said pairof reinforcing legs have a length extending substantially parallel to alongitudinal axis of the actuator.
 7. A micro-flexure for use in anactuator of a disk drive, said micro-flexure comprising: a slidercarrying section having a peripheral edge communicating with a gapformed in said micro-flexure; a pair of reinforcing legs formed onopposing lateral sides of said micro-flexure, said pair of reinforcinglegs having a length extending along a longitudinal axis of theactuator, and said pair of reinforcing legs having a height extendingsubstantially perpendicular to a plane in which said slider carryingsection lies; a transverse support interconnecting proximal ends of saidpair of reinforcing legs, said slider carrying section being offset fromsaid transverse support by said gap extending therebetween; said slidercarrying section interconnecting distal ends of said pair of reinforcinglegs; and a pair of piezoelectric elements, one element of saidpiezoelectric elements being mounted on each reinforcing leg of saidpair of reinforcing legs.
 8. A micro-flexure, as claimed in claim 7,wherein: said gap is u-shaped.
 9. A micro-flexure, as claimed in claim7, wherein: said piezoelectric elements attach to respective exteriorsurfaces of said reinforcing legs.
 10. A micro-flexure, as claimed inclaim 7, wherein: said reinforcing legs are elastically bent in atransverse direction by a bending moment induced thereon by the pair ofpiezoelectric elements; and said pair of reinforcing legs having alength extending substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of theactuator.
 11. A micro-flexure suspension assembly for use in an actuatorof a disk drive, said micro-flexure suspension assembly comprising: aload beam; a standard flexure attached to said load beam, said load beamproviding a load upon said standard flexure to maintain said standardflexure at a predetermined and desired height with respect to a magneticdisk of the disk drive; a micro-flexure attached to said standardflexure, said micro-flexure including: (i) a base section; (ii) a tonguesection extending from said base section and said tongue section havinga peripheral edge communicating with a gap formed in said micro-flexure;(iii) a pair of reinforcing legs formed on opposing lateral sides ofsaid micro-flexure and extending away from a common plane in which saidbase section and tongue section lie; (iv) a transverse supportinterconnecting adjacent ends of said pair of reinforcing legs; (v) apair of piezoelectric elements, one element of said pair ofpiezoelectric elements being mounted on each reinforcing leg of saidpair of reinforcing legs; (vi) said tongue section and base sectionbeing offset from said transverse support; and (vii) means attached tosaid micro-flexure for providing voltage to said pair of piezoelectricelements wherein a desired voltage applied to said piezoelectricelements causes deformation of said pair of reinforcing legs therebyproviding movement of said micro-flexure in a lateral/transversedirection for secondary actuation.
 12. An assembly, as claimed in claim11, wherein: said gap is u-shaped.
 13. An assembly, as claimed in claim11, wherein: said reinforcing legs have a height extending substantiallyperpendicular to said common plane of said base and tongue sections. 14.An assembly, as claimed in claim 11, wherein: said piezoelectricelements attach to respective exterior surfaces of said reinforcinglegs.
 15. A method of providing secondary actuation for an actuator of adisk drive, said method comprising the steps of: providing a standardflexure which attaches to a load beam of the actuator, said actuatorbeing movable for primary actuation along a desired track of a magneticstorage disk; providing a micro-flexure, said micro-flexure having astationary portion attached to said standard flexure, and a movableportion spaced and offset from the stationary portion thereby providingclearance for secondary actuation, said movable portion including atleast one reinforcing leg having a length extending substantiallyparallel to a longitudinal axis of the actuator; providing a sliderattached to said micro-flexure; providing at least one piezoelectricelement mounted to said at least one reinforcing leg; and applying adesired voltage to said at least one piezoelectric element therebycausing said piezoelectric element to deform thereby imparting a desiredtransverse movement upon said movable portion with respect to saidstandard flexure, wherein said movement provides fine positioning forsecondary actuation of the slider on the desired track of the magneticstorage disk.
 16. A micro-flexure suspension assembly for providingsecondary actuation in an actuator of a disk drive, said micro-flexuresuspension assembly comprising: a load beam; a standard flexure attachedto said load beam, said load beam providing a load upon said standardflexure to maintain said standard flexure at a predetermined and desiredspacing with respect to a magnetic disk of the disk drive; amicro-flexure attached to said standard flexure, said micro-flexureincluding: (i) a stationary portion attached to said standard flexure;(ii) a movable portion offset from said standard flexure, and spacedfrom said stationary portion by a gap, said movable portion including abase section, a tongue section extending from the base section, and apair of reinforcing legs formed on opposite lateral sides of saidmicro-flexure; and (iii) means for laterally displacing said movableportion in response to a selected voltage applied to said means forlaterally displacing, wherein lateral displacement of said movableportion results in a desired secondary actuation.
 17. An assembly, asclaimed in claim 16, further including: a slider attached to saidmovable portion.
 18. An assembly, as claimed in claim 16, furtherincluding: a slider attached to said base and tongue sections andpositioned between said pair of reinforcing legs.
 19. A micro-flexurefor use in an actuator of a disk drive, said micro-flexure comprising: aslider carrying section having a base section forming a most distallyextending portion of said micro-flexure, and a tongue section extendingproximally from said base section and having a peripheral edgecommunicating with a gap formed in said micro-flexure; means formed onopposing lateral sides of said micro-flexure for providing stiffeningsupport to said micro-flexure and for facilitating transverse movementof said micro-flexure during secondary actuation; and a plurality ofpiezoelectric elements attached to said means for providing stiffeningand for facilitating transverse movement, wherein a voltage applied tosaid plurality of piezoelectric elements causes deformation of saidmeans for providing stiffening and for facilitating transverse movementthereby providing movement of said micro-flexure in a transversedirection for secondary actuation.
 20. A micro-flexure suspensionassembly for use in an actuator of a disk drive, said micro-flexuresuspension assembly comprising: a load beam; a standard flexure attachedto said load beam; a micro-flexure attached to said standard flexure,said micro-flexure including: (i) a slider carrying section having aperipheral edge communicating with a gap formed in said micro-flexure;(ii) means formed on opposing lateral sides of said micro-flexure forproviding stiffening support to said micro-flexure and for facilitatingtransverse movement of said micro-flexure during secondary actuation;(iii) a plurality of piezoelectric elements attached to said means forproviding stiffening and for facilitating transverse movement, wherein avoltage applied to said plurality of piezoelectric elements causesdeformation of said means for providing stiffening and for facilitatingtransverse movement thereby providing movement of said micro-flexure ina transverse direction for secondary actuation; and a slider mounted tosaid micro-flexure.
 21. A micro-flexure suspension assembly for use inan actuator of a disk drive, said micro-flexure suspension assemblycomprising: a load beam; a standard flexure attached to said load beam;a micro-flexure having proximal and distal ends, said proximal endconnected to said standard flexure, said micro-flexure including: (i) aslider carrying section having a peripheral edge communicating with agap formed in said micro-flexure; (ii) a pair of reinforcing legs formedon opposing lateral sides of said micro-flexure, said legs extendingsubstantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the actuator and havinga height extending substantially perpendicular to a plane in which saidslider carrying section lies; and (iii) a pair of piezoelectricelements, one element of said piezoelectric elements being mounted oneach reinforcing leg of said of reinforcing legs.
 22. A micro-flexuresuspension assembly, as claimed in claim 21, wherein: said micro-flexurefurther includes a transverse support interconnecting proximal ends ofsaid pair of reinforcing legs.
 23. A micro-flexure suspension assembly,as claimed in claim 21, wherein: said gap is u-shaped.
 24. Amicro-flexure suspension assembly, as claimed in claim 21, wherein: saidreinforcing legs are elastically bent in a transverse direction by abending moment induced thereon by the pair of piezoelectric elements.25. A micro-flexure suspension assembly for providing secondaryactuation in an actuator of a disk drive, said micro-flexure suspensionassembly comprising: a load beam; a standard flexure attached to saidload beam, said load beam providing a load upon said standard flexure tomaintain said standard flexure at a predetermined and desired spacingwith respect to a magnetic disk of the disk drive; a micro-flexureattached to said standard flexure, said micro-flexure including: (i) astationary portion attached to said standard flexure; (ii) a movableportion offset from said standard flexure, and spaced from saidstationary portion by a gap; (iii) means for laterally displacing saidmovable portion in response to a selected voltage applied to said meansfor laterally displacing, wherein lateral displacement of said movableportion results in a desired secondary actuation; and wherein saidmovable portion further includes a pair of reinforcing legs, and saidmeans for laterally displacing further includes a pair of piezoelectricelements attached to corresponding exterior surfaces of said pair ofreinforcing legs.
 26. An assembly, as claimed in claim 25, wherein: saidmovable portion includes a tongue section, and said gap surrounds aperipheral edge of said tongue section.
 27. A micro-flexure suspensionassembly for providing secondary actuation in an actuator of a diskdrive, said micro-flexure suspension assembly comprising: a load beam; astandard flexure attached to said load beam, said load beam providing aload upon said standard flexure to maintain said standard flexure at apredetermined and desired spacing with respect to a magnetic disk of thedisk drive; a micro-flexure attached to said standard flexure, saidmicro-flexure including: (i) a stationary portion attached to saidstandard flexure; (ii) a movable portion offset from said standardflexure, and spaced from said stationary portion by a gap; and (iii)means for laterally displacing said movable portion in response to aselected voltage applied to said means for laterally displacing, whereinlateral displacement of said movable portion results in a desiredsecondary actuation; and a slider attached to said base and tonguesections and positioned between said pair of reinforcing legs.